(SOLD OUT) Healthy GABA Taiwanese GABA Tea

I’ve been back at work for about 6 weeks, and just last week our mall was ordered to close again (I manage a store in the mall). Our company has decided to proceed with curbside pickup, so we’ve been going in everyday, with not much to do. I decided to bring in a small gongfu set, to enjoy some of the teas from the JL (Fong Mong) sampler while I read some comics I’ve been meaning to catch up on.
I brewed this up…and it tasted terrible. This was no fault of the tea, I realized, even though I filter our shop’s water, the water just did not taste good and ruined the poor tea. Lesson learned, but a waste of this tea.

This GABA enriched oolong is something new to me. It’s quite fascinating, too. As I examined the dry leaf I found it contained more pieces of twig and stem than other teas, but there’s a good reason for that: the stems contain more GABA. The aroma is indeed strong and of dried fruits, such as raisins and also a little bit woody. It’s interesting too how some leaves are quite green and some are more brown and black in colour.

I’ve tried this tea both in a teapot and flash steeping in a gaiwan. Although I don’t think I’d infuse it more than twice in a teapot, in a gaiwan it produced round after round of rich liquor that was full of flavour and a bit tranquillizing. Brewing in a gaiwan, I used 3g of leaf per 75ml of water, later increasing to 90ml.

This tea wasn’t quite what I expected. The liquor is darker in colour, a rich amber more akin to a black tea such as Ruby 18. The flavour also makes me feel like I’m drinking a black tea, with malty and caramel notes and a hint of vanilla sweetness. It’s very enjoyable, and I find that it’s minimally astringent, becoming even smoother as it cools. I finished with 8 infusions, letting the last one sit for an extended period of time. I enjoy the calming and focus enhancing boost from this tea.

Thanks to Fong Mong for this sample. Up for tasting today we have healthy GABA oolong. I dont have all that much experience with GABA tea, and wasnt really sure what to expect. I started by heating a yixing with near boiling water, then putting the dry leaf in to smell. I got an aroma of honey and spices.

I decided to skip the wash as the leaves look pretty clean and open already and just go right for the first brew. The flavor is a bit hard to describe, honey, spices, nutmeg, malt and a bit of sweetness. It does have a few of the flavor profiles of bug bitten, but more spicey and malty. The liquor is clear, reddish brow, the color of whiskey or dark honey.

Third brew is about the same color as the second and seems very similiar though the flavor and aroma is drifting from honey to malt. There is a teeny bit of astrigency in this brew as well. Some spice notes, and possibly nutmeg again. Tiny bit of coffee note as well, again a flavor I usually get with black tea.

This has been an interesting experience as I dont drink much GABA tea, so I didnt really know what to expect. It almost tastes like a cross between black tea and bug bitten. This tea type is supposed to be very healthy , lowering blood pressure and sugar. I do recommend trying this tea for yourself and seeing what you think.

Recommended.

Beautiful leaf with almost a copper complexion to it when you turn the leaf around. Giving a smell smell to the brewing liquid I expected a honey taste as it reminded me of a oriental beauty. Unfortunately, what I thought was going to be an amazing tea ended up having the second most funky taste I’ve ever encountered. The best way I can describe it would be oversalted butter melted and then mixed into some instant tea. It was one of the hardest few steeps to get through as the leaf looked so great that I decided to continue at least 7 steeps to see if it changed… no, still really awkward tasting; though I’ve had this same experience with another gaba oolong before.

Backlog:

As I mention in my full-length article of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/01/03/taiwan-gaba-oolong-tea-from-fong-mong-tea/ Of the many Oolong teas that are out there, I think that GABA Oolong teas are the one that I probably have the least amount of experience with. I’ve only tried fewer than a handful of this type of Oolong.

This is sweet and nutty with hints of spice. It has a lighter taste and texture than what I would normally experience from an Oolong. It’s not as creamy as Oolong teas often are.

Later infusions were stronger tasting, with a well developed roasty, toasty sort of flavor that I enjoyed. Subtle notes of peach began to emerge and develop. My last infusion had a really pleasant development of the peach note.